After taking good note of the best Spanish cheeses this year, we are now looking at another gastronomic contest that can also come in handy for Christmas, the Evooleum Awards. Already celebrating its seventh edition, and accompanied by the publication of the complete world oil guide for 2023, its objective is to prepare a ranking with the 100 best extra virgin olive oils in the worldalso divided by subcategories.
This year we meet again four spanish references in the absolute top 10, with the coincidence that the first place is occupied by a national oil and an Italian one, being the first time in the short but intense life of this that it is certainly awarded ex aequo.
On this occasion it was a Cordovan oil, from Subbética cornerthe one that can boast of having achieved the highest score, 97 points out of 100, the same as the Italian Monini Monocultivar Coratina Bio of Perugia. In this way, they have not managed to exceed the maximum reached last year by the Campo El Alcázar cooperative, from Baeza (Jaén), absolute winner of 2021.
Once again we have a top 10 dominated completely by Spanish and Italian oils, with four references from Spain, all Andalusian, as well as one Croatian and one Brazilian oil. These are, according to the Evooleum awards, the best Spanish extra virgin olive oils of 2022:
Corner of the Subbética Altitude
Produced by Almazaras de la Subbética in the Sierras Subbéticas Natural Park, in Córdoba, it is a unfiltered limited edition of its world-awarded Rincón de la Subbética. It is a monovarietal extra virgin olive oil hojiblanca and organic production, obtained in the first days of the olive harvest.
Defined as an oil complex but very balanced and harmonious, it offers a multitude of nuances both on the nose and on the palate, highlighting the green and fruity intensity of citrus touches, with clear notes of mountain herbs and tomato bush, which first releases sweet notes and ends up leaving spicy sensations of medium intensity. on the palate.
It can be bought at El Club Gourmet of El Corte Inglés and other specialized stores for a few 24 euros the 500 ml glass bottle.
Unfiltered organic extra virgin olive oil Altitude Rincón de la Subbética Limited Edition
Parqueoliva Gold Series
Also from Almazaras de la Subbética is this extra virgin olive oil that has been obtained 95 points over 100. It is a coupage oil that combines the variety beaked and hojiblanca from this area of Córdoba populated by centuries-old olive trees.
With a soft entry, this oil evolves in its tasting, releasing a marked more bitter character that leaves medium spicy nuances with flavors and aromas of green almond, very balanced as a whole. It can be purchased in different formats, from 500 and 250 ml glass bottles to three-litre metal cans.
Parqueoliva Gold Series Extra Virgin Olive Oil Coupage – 500 ml
PARQUEOLIVA SERIE ORO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Hojiblanca and Picuda Varieties) – 3 Liter Tin
Gate of the Early Picual Villas
Also with 95 points we find this extra virgin olive oil of the picual variety. It is one of the star products of Puerta de las Villas, the brand of the Andalusian Cooperative Society San Vicente de Mogón (Jaén), founded in 1966 and which has been working for a few years to bring its oils to the highest national and international excellence.
The awarded oil is a limited edition of 3,000 units, early harvest and cold extraction, as is usual in these oils, packaged in 500 ml bottles. The olives are harvested at the end of October from olive groves cultivated in integrated production located mainly in the Sierra de las Villas.
It is described as an oil that on the nose presents notes of tomato, artichoke, green wheat, sweet banana peel and, to a lesser extent, aromatic herbs, leaving on the palate cool hues of cut grass and light touches of green almond, very persistent.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Puerta De Las Villas, Early Picual 500ml
King’s Fountain
This extra virgin olive oil from Priego de Córdoba (Córdoba) has obtained 94 points. It is an oil made by Mueloliva from olive varieties beaked and hojiblancaalso collected by hand in the month of October.
The same producer makes Lidl’s extra virgin olive oil for five euros, although in the case of its recently awarded coupage oil, the original 500 ml glass bottle will cost us 9.95 euros, available in its online store in reserve for the new crop.
Some of the links in this article are affiliate links and may benefit DAP.
In DAP | Olive oil, the definitive guide: which varieties are suitable for each dish (and when to use sunflower)
In DAP | Olive pomace oil seeks to get out of ostracism: this is what happens with the 90% of the olive that is not “virgin” oil